It's All Part of the Story

And isn't it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string

They had both been laughing and playfully trash talking each other's decorating skills and listening to one of Karlie's playlists, when You're so vain by Carly Simon came on over the small speaker and Karlie had mentioned offhandedly that her parents had named her after the singer.

Taylor had been so taken aback that she almost messed up the Santa cookie she had been decorating. Karlie hadn't been sure why that was such a big deal until Taylor explained that her parents had named her after James Taylor.

When Karlie had done nothing but stare at her blankly, Taylor explained that they had been married and a shy, slightly awkward silence settled over them.

In an attempt to break the tension, Karlie had smeared some frosting on Taylor's cheek and had ducked her head to press her lips against the spot, her tongue peeking out to swipe against Taylor's skin.

The food fight that followed had left them both giggling and breathless, with sticky faces. Karlie had pressed Taylor up against her kitchen counter, pinning her there with an arm on either side of her and had trailed her lips from Taylor's cheek to her lips, dotting kisses as she went before kissing her soundly, all thoughts of James Taylor and Carly Simon forgotten.

The second time it happened had been on their trip to Big Sur, what they both considered to be their real anniversary and the beginning of their official relationship after months of keeping it casual, although each of them knowing that the way they were beginning to feel was anything but casual.

Taylor had been planning on playing Karlie her new album on the trip but had been waiting for the right opportunity to broach the subject. It wasn't the normal level of nerves that would accompany sharing what she had been working on for the last year and a half with someone. The fact that that someone happened to be the girl that she had fallen hopelessly in love with and the album in question happened to contain a number of songs about her ex-girlfriend wasn't helping matters.

But when Karlie had reached out to link her fingers with Taylor's where they were rested on the centre console and squeezed her hand, Taylor seemed to come to a decision.

When Taylor had asked Karlie if she truly liked her music, making it clear that she wouldn't hold it against her if she didn't, Karlie had rushed to reassure the singer.

Karlie had tugged on Taylor's hand, bringing it to her lips and pressing a kiss to it before asking if she had ever told Taylor about the time that she had gone to the Fearless tour with her sisters when it came to St. Louis.

Taylor had snapped her head to look at Karlie, trying to gauge if she was serious as Karlie had mentioned it so casually. Karlie had smiled at Taylor's shocked expression and just nodded before explaining that she Kariann and Kimby had all gone.

When Taylor asked her why she hadn't ever mentioned it, Karlie had just shrugged and explained that she didn't want to make it weird. She had told Taylor that she was a fan of hers when they had met and she didn't see any reason to labour the point.

Taylor had just smiled and shook her head, before taking a deep breath and asking Karlie to play "Road Trip Mix 13" on her iPod that was hooked up to the stereo system.

Karlie had leaned over to press a kiss against Taylor's cheek, sensing that she needed some extra reassurance that no matter what Karlie was about to hear, it wasn't going to change anything about how she felt about Taylor.

Taylor had come to regret her decision to do this whilst they were driving, she had hoped that it would be a welcome distraction but she had found herself wishing that she could look at Karlie to try and gauge her reaction. Instead she had focused on the gentle pressure of Karlie's hand in hers, squeezing softly as the opening notes to Welcome to New York filled the car.